source: Wikipedia, public domain
René-Antoine de Réaumur developed his temperature scale without knowledge of the work of Fahrenheit. He used alcohol for his thermometer liquid, even though it was known that alcohol expanded irregularly when heated.
| Réaumur-temperature | ||
|---|---|---|
| lower fixed point | melting point of water | 0 °Re |
| upper fixed point | boiling point of water at normal pressure | 80 °Re |
| fundamental distance | 80 degrees | |
By the transition of the mercury thermometer the Réaumur-scale loses its importance. Today in France is sugar fluid still measured with Réaumur's scale.
source: Wikipedia, public domain
René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur was born according to the Gregorian calendar on the 28th February 1683 in the French city La Rochelle. He belonged to an aristocratic family.
Already in his youth he studied philosophy in Poitiers, later law and mathematics, too. In 1703 he left for Paris, where he also studied physics. When he was 24 he was elected to membership in the Académie des Sciences. In the following years he published many scientific papers on various topics, like entomology or materials science. So he discovered, for example, the structure of the beehive and he developed an opaque glass, known as Réaumur-porcelaine.
René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur died according to the Gregorianian calendar a ripe old age of 74 on the 17th of October 1757 on his estate in the west of France.
